Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-07-23
COLORADO CATTLE WOMEN.
Eight Hundred of Them ian the State,
and Not One of Them a Failure.
From the Denver Republican.

4
Eight Hundred of Them I'm the state,
and Not One of Them a Failure.
| From the Denver Republican.
4 al assure you," said prominent cattleman to
Republican representative the other day. shat Of
all the failures made In stock raising In this West
| ern country not one or them has been made by
| women. You can say what you please about the
| gentler sex not being able to rustic with the
| stern necessities OF bread getting, but you can
trust the stock women, sir to look after their own
| interests every time, and never, to my knowledge
has one OF them been left. They are worth alto
/ gether several millions OF dollars, and they have
got the clearest heads and the best Judgment as
regards managing stock that have ever seen dis
| 'NO sir, / never heard OF a stock woman falling
! in business yet, and don't believe you ever did.
yidlv Thew know WHAT VI they are doi t and
they invariably make instead OF lose. Ii you don It
believe this you can consult all the stock journals
| In the country, and they will prove that What
say TO you is true"
'Are you personally acquainted with many
women engaged in the business OF cattle raising?"
asked the reporter.
The cattlenan gave long, low whistle
Wen, should think so, he said. ''Tve studied
them Tor years You want to know what kind of
women they are? I'll tell you what sort they are,
young man; they're ladies'; that's what they are
Now, 1 don't mean by that that they would be
afraid OF sOiling their hands IL occasion required;
no. Indeed; nor of doing charitable action which
would neceSsitate some personal exposure on their
part Tor they are generous To FAULT. What
mean TO say is that they are as rule refined and
intelligent women, who read and think, and are
capable OF making good appearance In society.
uoh L KNOW as nave ever seen one or them who
Is phenomenally Intellectual outside OF the judg-
ment they exercise in the stock business which Is
phenomenal. Most OF them have genius for
business, and nine-tenthS Of them know how TO
appear In a drawtng-rOom
sin most instances they are rich and know well
how TO use their money 10 advantage so as to get
the most out OF life. Many OF them are wives and
mothers, and when they are such assure you
they are both wise and kind. You Will find that
they rule their households with firm hands, and
that their husbands and children to use biblical
expression, rise up and call them blessed
II dare say you Thought that women who en-
gage in stock raising were all centaurs. Come now
didn't your continued The cattleman. "Riding
like the wind half clad their tresSes flying behind
them, and all the rest OF IL, for all the world like
picture from mythology. Confess now, didn't
you?
81 assure you you could not have had a more
erroneous impression. stock women are much
like others, save that they have wider Judgment
on practical subjects. They are thoroughly bust
interest which they have at stake and the quick
conception with which all women are GIFTED
enables them to see clearly what the inevitable
results would be OF one false move. They know
that their decisions must be well weighted that
they must act only under the most careful con-
Sderation and that once having acted they must
abide by their decision with a calm, answering
spirit 1t is good training school for woman.
IL takes all that idiOtc nonsense about nerves
of her and gives her brain a cool. cOmmOn-Sense
p0lSe which many man might envy.
II know of no position In life which had rather
my daughters would fill. IL is one burdened with
great Responsibilities OF course but what mode of
life Is not where there is anything TO be gained?
assure you l should not consider that clear un-
derStandlng or the cattle business 1nterlered in
any way with the refinement OF those whom hold
most dear"
'sBut you have doubtless met stock women of a
directly opposite class, have you nOt?"
''Oh, yes; there are necessarily exceptions to all
rules. The uncouth woman OF the ranch, who
rounds up her own herds and sleeps In the saddle,
Is not altogether a creature OF the imaginati ion.
Unc0uth and ignorant she may be- but she Is al
ways good woman, and one whom all the cow
boys respect. l know several instances where
these women can swing lariat like a man and
know quite AS well how TO manage the herd. A
very few OF them personally supervise their
own animals, however, and these In most in
stances are those who have not as yet accumu-
lated much wealth, although there are some
very rich cattle women in Colorado who ride
after their own herds. This, however, is very
unusual woman usually manages her cattle
through foreman, whom she often supplies with
brain power, She does not usually live on the
ranch, but rather in handsome house in some
neighDoring town. But all the same she is the
bone and slnew OF the business. Her clear head
manages IL all, and 1t Is through her directions
that her foreman always proceeds. She often
spends the summer on the ranch where COM
Portable dwelling Is fitted up for her, much Oh the
order OF an English shooting box.
You want 10 know something about the I'M
married women who are great stock raiSers?
Well, the main thing that Can be said OF them
Is that men Of position and prominence every
where want 10 marry them, and not purely out
or money considerations either, for some OF
these unmarried stock women have fund OF
good sense and useful Intelligence which can
not be eclipSei, and besides this many OF them
are quite accomplished and good looking. But
few OF them are ON the marry Most Of them are
past thelr first youth, and they have Shrewd way
OF looking at things, which augurS Ill for the
stranger who looks with longing eyes upon their
focks and herds.
colorado women generally have gone into the
stock business, concluded the cattleman "through
direct line OF inheritance-that is they have In
her1ted either small herds, vast ones, or a taste
and inclination for the life. know of numerous
instances where a father has died, leaving his
daughter very small herd, and she has gone
steadily on with Ii, making thousands where her
father before her made hundreds OF dollars. Again.
there are widows who have come into possession
OF vast stock interests through the death their
husbands, and who have managed the business
left To them until Its receipts away UP in the
millions.
Il know resolute women, too, who began with
out a dollar, and who have gained wealth and
novel sight ever saw Was 14-year-old girl herd
ing cattle away up in Montana with only her little
brother TO assist her. The father OF these two
children had died, leaving them small herd OF
cattle, and would be willing to wager my. last
dollar that that little brow n-Skinned girl away I'D
there in that wilderness will yet count her dollars
by thousands. OF the 500 stock women now doing
business in Colorado, all well and fayoraDy
known among cattle and sheep men, any one OF
whom would gladly befriend them in case OF an
emergency, but whom, on the other hand, they are
quite capable OF advising in many practicable
matters relating TO stock-raising."